Has Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president, blown it for the left in the country? The party he helped found, the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), has been knocked sideways by two different forces.

What was Donald Rumsfeld doing in Paraguay in August? One might imagine the US defence secretary had enough on his plate orchestrating the war on terror. In fact, Rumsfeld has been displaying an alarming degree of interest in Paraguayan affairs recently.